Taking a Break
by carolinagirl919
Summary: Reese doesn't take Carter's request for space too well.


**Author's note: This one-shot started out as a drabble based on the following prompt from PiscesChikk: Reese doesn't take Carter's request for space too well. Well, I was asked to extend it and this is what I came up with. If my muse wants me to add to this I will, but purposely left this story open ended. Also, this is unbeta'd so any mistakes you see are mine, my apologies.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the show or its characters, so fall back CBS and WB.**

* * *

Hair mussed, skin flushed, and panting, Joss lay on her back, staring at the ceiling of John's loft. _It always ends up like this_, she thought. She came to his place with the intention of asking for space and then leaving, yet here she was again. Naked, on her back, and in his bed. _How much longer can this go on, before the other shoe drops?_

She felt his hand move up from her torso to cup her breasts, his long fingers grazing her hardening tips. Nights like this, when they hadn't seen each other for days because of his... _work_, he would be insatiable. Where in the hell did he find the stamina? And damn it, why did she feel herself getting aroused again?

"John." His name came out in a breathless moan instead of the sturdy tone she intended. He wasn't going to make this easy for her. He lowered his head to one breast to take a nipple in his mouth. She cleared her throat and tried again. "John," she called out more firmly.

He kissed his way up to her neck. "Yes?" She felt his hot breath against the shell of her ear and his hand move down from her breasts to the slick folds between her legs.

"I... mmm, wait stop." She gently pushed him up and away from her. She gathered the covers around her bare chest and sat up in the bed. He sat up as well, facing her with confusion replacing the intense heat in his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"We can't keep doing this." She quickly got out of the bed to find her clothing.

"Wait a minute, Joss." He rose from the bed to follow her, unashamedly nude.

She turned to look at him as she pulled on her slacks, her eyes automatically zeroing in on the source of her earlier pleasure. That was a mistake. She mentally shook her head and looked up to focus only on his face. "Put some clothes on."

He looked at her as if she'd lost her mind, completely ignoring her request. "Why are you leaving? Is it something I've said or done? What is it? What's the meaning of this?"

Pulling the blouse over her head, she turned away from him to find her shoes. "I need space."

"Space?" he asked flatly.

She stepped into her shoes and turned back to him. "Yes, space. It's… we're..." She took a moment to gather her thoughts and find the right words. "It's getting too complicated, John. You're still a wanted man; I just got my badge back. This won't work," she finished, finally meeting his eyes.

It was almost as if she'd physically slapped him. She saw his hurt right before he covered it with his trademark mask of placidity. The room suddenly felt cold and she knew it wasn't due to the draftiness of his loft. He turned away from her and grabbed his boxers from the floor, slowly putting them on.

"So that's it?" he asked with his back still turned to her.

"I'm sorry." She meant that and she truly was. With nothing else to say, she gathered the rest of her belongings and quietly left his place. He never turned around to look at her, nor did she turn back as she walked out.

* * *

"Shit." Joss slammed the plastic stick on the counter and stared at the two pink lines in the window of the pregnancy test. It was the same result as the other two she'd taken earlier. The lines seemed to mock her.

"No, no, no, no, no. This is _not_ happening."

The shrill ring of her cell phone momentarily ceased her racing thoughts before she picked it up to see who was calling.

_Unknown Number_

She threw her phone against the wall and watched the shattered pieces scatter across the tiled floor. Her anxiety ratcheted up to near panic attack levels. It had only been two weeks since she and John agreed to take a break. The first few days he gave her the space she asked for. There were no phone calls, no texts, and honestly she hadn't felt more alone.

Lately, their break seemed more like a one-sided agreement. Recently their paths crossed while working on the same case– a homicide suspect was a number of theirs– and from then on, he constantly tried to contact her. She'd seen more of him now than she ever had. He would show up to crime scenes, lurking nearby, watching her. She knew he followed her when she left work to make sure she got home safely. And for the past three days her phone rang constantly.

She should have known better than to have started an affair with him. Things were getting too serious. One night of passion turned into two. Two nights turned into a routine. She knew it was a mistake the first night, but she had no excuse for the other nights. She needed a break to think clearly and figure out if a relationship with him was what she really wanted.

The last thing she needed was this. She tossed the test into the wastebasket and left the restroom. Making her way into the kitchen for some much needed rocky road ice cream she was stopped by a knock on her front door.

"Joss... I know you're there. Open up. We need to talk."

"John, when I asked for space, this isn't what I had in mind." She could feel her resolve breaking, but she knew she had to stay strong.

"Just open the door, Joss. Please..." She heard the desperation in his voice and wondered if he'd followed her to the pharmacy and saw what she had purchased three days ago.

"I saw you at the pharmacy," he continued, answering her internal question aloud. "I'm not leaving."

"I told you I needed space. Don't do this. Please leave." The dam had broken and all of her fears hit her at once, causing tears to fall from her eyes. What in the hell was she going to do? She was pregnant by a wanted man who was presumed dead. A man with a lethal past that continued to haunt him. A man with an incredibly dangerous, risky, and illegal "job" saving strangers. The same man that wouldn't leave her front door.

"Open the door," he whispered so softly that she almost didn't hear it. "At least tell me, one way or the other. Don't shut me out."

She stood at the door with her hand on the knob for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, she opened the door.


End file.
